Automatic telegraph system



Aug. 25, 1925.

w. A. HOUGHTALING AUTOMATIC TELEGRAPH SYSTEM Filed July l5, 1925 MAN QLicia O ,EEE m Patented Aug. 25, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER A. HOUGHTALNG, 0F DUNELLEN,

Y OBK.

NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY, OF,NEWYORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW AUTOMATIC TELEGBAPH SYSTEM.

Application filed July 13,

To all whom t may concern; l

Be it known that I, WALTER A. Honori- TAIJNG, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Dunellen, in the county of Middlesex and State ofNew Jersey, have invented certain newand useful Improvements inAutomatic Telegraph Systems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates toimprovements in operating automatic telegraphsystems on the well-known Baudet multiplex principle, and particularlyto the method sometimes designated as the fork and series method. Theprinciples of this method are described in I-LVV. Pendrys book on TheBaudot Printing Telegraph System.

In the fork and series method of operation, the line impulses ortelegraph signals are received at an intermediate station from one linesection and transmitted by means of a rotary repeater to the nextsection in regenerated impulses, free from distortion. The lines, ofcourse, are duplexed so that messages may be transmitted simultaneouslyin both directions through the repeater.

In prior systems of this character the repeater equipment has beencomplicated by the large number of relays required, one for each of the2O segments of a four channel circuit and a separate set of relays beingrequired for each channel, ytogether with locking and unlocking circuitsfor these relays. The purpose of my invention is to greatly simplify theequipment by an organization which enables a single set of relays tofunction in each channel in succession and to entirely eliminate thelocking circuits heretofore required. f

The advanta res of my improvements will be comprehen ed from thefollowing description. in connection with the annexed drawing whereinthe preferred embodiment is shown diagrammati-cally.

To illustrate the features of my invention I have shown in the usualconventional manner, terminal stations A and C, equipped with rotarydistributors RT and RT and line relays M, M', duplexed as usual. Theintermediate repeater station B is equipped with a rotary receiving andtransmitting repeater RT2 and line relays M2 and M3, connectedrespectively to the line sections L and L.

I have shown the system arranged for a y 1923. Serial N0. 651,404.

quad or four channel operation. The segmented transmitting or sendingrings s1 and s, of the rotary distributors at the terminal stationshaving their fo-ur groups of five segments each, connected to theseparate transmitters, as indicated, may be of the type shown in U. S.patent to G. It. Benjamin No. 1,298,440. Likewise the groups of livesegments each of the rings r1 and r, may be connected in the usualmanner to the selecting magnets of separate printers.

At the repeating station B, I connect the corresponding segment of eachset of five, i. e., the corresponding segment in each of the severalchannels, in multiple to one terminal of a polarized relay, the other'terminal of each relay being connected to a potentiometer p across thepoles of a generator. The armature of each relay is connected inmultiple to each of the corresponding segments vof the several channelsof the sending ring which transmits or repeats into the next linesection. The contacts which cooperate with the relay armatures areconnected in multiple to a source of current g and g. It will be. seen,therefore, that I employ only one set of five polar relays to receiveand retransmit through all of the channels.

lThe operation will be readily understood by telegraph engineers. Thelive-unit combinations of positive and negative impulses of the codecharacters impressed upon the segments of the transmitter ring s, by theseparate tape transmitters, are picked upy by the rotating brushes 5 and"transmitted in succession to the line L.. As the line relay M2 at therepeater lstation responds to these impulses, the corresponding positiveIand negative polarities are impressed upon the segments of thereceiving ring r, of the rotary repeater RT2, and as the brushes b2rotate in synchronism with the brushes 5, the same polarities will beimpressed upon the polar relays PR.

The two transmitting rings s, and s3 of the repeater are adjusted on theshaft until the fourth segment on each of these rings is in alinementwith the first segment of the receiving rings r2 and r3. rela-tiveposition of the sending and receiving rings is indicated by thecorresponding numbers on the segments.

This relation or Since each segto the time required by the brushes topass over 36 in which to settle down in case there is any tendency tochatter between the time ot receiving and transmitting an impulse. Thusan impulse impressed upon the first relay by the passage of brush b2over segment .1 ot ring r2, causes the armature of the relay to swingagainst one or the other contact and thereby connect the segment 4 ofring e2 with the generator g, but the impulse is not transmitted by therepeater to the line Il until the brushes have passed over twointervening segments, i. e., until they have reached the fourth segment.Each relay, however, transmits the impulse ot one tive-unit characterbetere it receives the corresponding impulse of the next succeedingcharacter.

Inasmuch as the line relays are connected in duplex arrangement, thecharacters sent by the' A transmitter from station A will be received bythe A printer at station C, simultaneously with the transmission ofcharacters by the A transmitter ot station C and which are received bythe A printer of station A. The same operation takes place in the otherchannels of the multiplex.

At the repeater station, the characters sent from station A actuate theline relay M2 and its armature impresses the corresponding impulses uponthe segments Aof `re ceiving ring r2 and these are transferred to thepolar relays PR. 'Ihe tongues or armatures ot these relays connect thesegments of the sending ring 82 with one or the other pole of thegeneratorg, thus repeating the impulses regenerated into the linesection L. In the same manner the impulses received by the line relay M3sent out from station C, are transferred to the segments of thereceiving ring r3, and from thence to the polar relays PR. The armaturesof those relays connect the segments of the sending ring s3 with thegenerator g and upon the passage of the brush b4 the renewed orregenerated impulses are repeated to the line section L.

The distributors at the terminal stations and the rotary repeaterl atthe intermediate station are rotated in synchronism, each being drivenpreferably by a motor of the La Cour phonlc wheel type. The rotaryrepeater is corrected from the distributor at station A -and distributorat station C is corrected fromthe repeater, the correction beingeffected automatically in the manner Well understood by multiplexoperators, by the correcting system disclosed in U. S. patent toRothermel No. 1,253,889.

The number of channels working between any two stations may be variedwithin certain limits. Thus a quad or four channel circuit may bearranged to work all four channels between the terminal stations; or towork three channels between terminals naartoe and one channel betweenthe repeater station and each terminal; or to work two channels betweenterminals and two channels between therepeater and each terminal; or towork one channel between terminals and three channels between therepeater' station and each terminal. In the diagram I have shown thethree channels A, B and C working between the terminal, while on thechannel D the operator at the repeater station has printers connected toreceive from either station A or station 'C and transmitters connectedto send messages to either terminal rlhe channel D is, therefore,dropped at the repeater station from the series transmission in bothdirections, so that no messages are transmitted trom either terminal tothe other through the repeater on the D channel.

As pointed out above, the D channel can be used at the repeater stationto receive messages on a printer connected to the segments 16 to 2O otthe ring r, sent from the D transmitter at the A station. However,instead oi connecting a printer at the receiving station, this channelmay be connected to a printer located at some distant station on abranch line. Said distant station may also transmit messagessimultaneously through the repeater station to' the A station over the Dchannel by having the branch line connected to the segments 19,

20, 1, 2 and 3 of the ring s3.

In the same manner the messages over D channel operated by the Dtransmitter at the C station may be received by a printer at therepeater station connected to the segments 16 to 20 of ring r3, or thesesegments may be connected to a branch line and the printer may belocated at a distant station on that line. Likewise the transmitter atthat distant station may transmit messages simultaneously to the Dprlnter at the C station if said branch line 1s connected to thesegments 19, 20, 1, 2 and 3 of rings s2 of the rotary repeater.

In the example shown, therefore, the multiplex system operates throughthe repeater station in series from' station A to station C on threechannels of the circuit and forks at the repeater station on the Dchannel to provide for the interchange of -messages from the stations Aand C to stations on other lines which branch o' from the repeaterstation. The rotary distributors at the station on .the branch lineswillbe maintained in synchronism by correcting from the rotary repeaterat the repeater station.

While I have shown only the D channel forked at the repeater station toother lines, it is evident that other channels may be forked in the samemanner to other branch lines.

v system, a plurality of stations. divided into sections, amultiplex s'nc rionousV-"system connecting said station nda relaying apparatusinterposed veen adjacent line sections includ- 'ing afl- ,of polarizedrelays operable by paratus interposed between adjacent. line sections,said apparatus -comprismg a rotary'repeater having a air of segmentedrings and a set of polarized relays having the magnets connected inmultiple respectively to thel corresponding segments of each of thechannels of the multiplex system in *onev ring and the armaturesconnected in multiple respectively to the corresponding segments of theother ring.

3. A telegraph system, comprising a line divided into sections, aplurality of stations, Y

a multiplex synchronous system connecting -said stations and including arelaying ap-k paratus interposed -between adjacent line sections, saidapparatus comprising/a ro-` -tary repeater having pairs of segmentedrings, a source of energy, a' plurality of sets of polarized relays, oneset associated with each pair of rings and functioning successively withkthe segments of each channel of the lmultiplex to 'receive' impulsesfrom one line section and to transmit to an` other line section impulsesderived from said source of energyand corresponding to said receivedimpulses.

4. A telegraph system, comprising a line divided into sections, aplurality of stations, a multiplex synchronous system connecting saidstations and including a relaying apparatus interposed between adjacentline sections, said apparatus comprising a rotary repeaterhaving a pairof segmented rings and a set of polarized relays having the magnetsvconnected in multiple respectively to the corresponding segments ofeach of the dierent channels of the multiplex system in one ring and thearmatures connected in multiple respectively to the correspondingsegments of the other ring, a branch line connected td the .segments ofsaid repeater rings of one channel and a station in said branch linehaving a. printer and a transmitter operating synchronously with saidrepeater.

5. A telegraph system, comprising a line divided into sections, aplurality of stations, a multiplex synchronous system connecting saidstations and including -a relaying apparatus interposed between adjacentline sections, said apparatus comprising a ro tary repeater having pairsof segmented rings, a source of energy, a plurality of.

sets of polarized relays, one set associated with each pair of rings andfunctioning successively with the segments of each channel of themultiplex to receive impulses from 'o n'e line section and to transmitto another lllne section impulses derived from said source of energy andcorresponding to said received impulses, branch lines connected to thesegments of said repeater rings of certain channels and stations in saidbranch lines provided with printers and transmitters operatingsynchronously with said relpeater.

In testimony whereof ture.

WALTER A. HOUGHTALING.

I allix my signa

